


Behind the Curtain

by lemonypond



Series: Manscaping [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Gen, Humor, Light-Hearted, Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-23
Updated: 2014-01-23
Packaged: 2018-01-09 18:45:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1149490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemonypond/pseuds/lemonypond
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jemma and Leo adjust to close living quarters on the Bus. Prequel to Safeword.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Behind the Curtain

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't help myself. I tried really hard to stay in character. Jemma being matter of fact about things and Fitz getting anxious.

“Hey Simmons, what are you doing?” Fitz asked, taking a seat on the bed in Jemma’s bunk.  It was late in the evening after an exhausting day in the lab. They’d been assigned to the Bus for about a week now and they were still adjusting to the compact living situations. Coulson had his own quarters in another part of the Bus, May terrified them, Ward didn’t like people, and Skye wasn’t very social yet, so as usual Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons spent their down time together. Over the last few years of their friendship the personal boundaries had always been comfortable, but the tight quarters were bringing a new dynamic to their relationship. Like the Wizard of Oz, sometimes there were peaks behind the curtain. 

Jemma turned from the mirror in her hand. “Oh hey Fitz, I’m just plucking my eyebrows, what does it look like?” 

Fitz scratched his head.  “But why?” 

Jemma dropped her compact mirror and tweezers to the bed beside her. “What? You think this,” she waved her other hand around her face and smirked,”just happens by itself?” 

“Well, yeah Jemma, I actually did,” Fitz answered. 

“Aww, that’s sweet. But alas no, these are actually quite an ordeal to maintain,” Jemma smiled at Fitz. “I mean you must shave every day to maintain your baby face, don’t you?” 

Fitz blinked and blushed. “Yeah, no, yeah, totally. Everyday,” he lied. The truth was he shaved maybe every three or four days, and even then there wasn’t much. But he wasn’t going to let Jemma know that. “I just didn’t think girls had all that much to maintain.” 

Jemma smirked. “Honestly? We go through _so much_ , some much more than others. For some women its eyebrows, mustaches, armpits, stray chin hairs, around the areolas…”  
  
“Woah woah woah….that’s quite enough there, Simmons!” Fitz was turning quite red in the face. 

“Oh Fitz, they’re just a part of human anatomy!” Jemma said exasperatedly. She always got so annoyed when he got squeamish. 

“Well, yes, but, they’re…” Fitz moved his hands to his chest and cupped them awkwardly. 

“Breasts, Fitz?” Jemma said with a look of pity on her face. She wanted to be annoyed at him but she found him so amusing. “ They're just mammary tissues. I mean honestly Fitz, I have them, you know.” Jemma sat up from her lounging position against the wall to get a better look at her friend. 

Fitz fidgeted, and tried not to stare at the now obvious breasts that Jemma possessed. She was wearing a tank top and pajama pants. What she was not wearing was a bra. Fitz cursed in his head and quickly turned his head towards the floor. “I am vaguely aware that those,” he pointed aimlessly forward, arm wagging in the air, “exist.” 

Jemma suddenly realized that this was probably the most casual they had ever seen each other. They had spent late nights together sure, but always under the context of studying for exams and project deadlines. They had of course also spent tons of time together outside of that context, at the Boiler Room and various other social events, but this was perhaps the first time that she could recall that she had been so...unsupported in front of Fitz. The awkwardness in the room was expanding exponentially. 

“Right. I have breasts, Fitz, that should not surprise you. We often choose to maintain our pubic hair too. It’s nothing to be ashamed of; you also have your own p…” 

“Jemma Simmons I swear to you, do not start talking about my package!” 

“Ugh Fitz! My point is that everyone has hair that they choose to maintain, whether it’s my eyebrows or your manscaping.” Jemma was on the verge of shouting. 

“Mansca-“ Fitz stood up, flustered. “That’s it. I’ll see you in the morning Simmons!” He fumbled for the door and didn’t look back. 

Jemma sat there on her bed and stared at the door. “Fitz? Fitz! Come back!” she shouted. 

“No!” Fitz shouted back through the wall. 

“Well that got weird,” Jemma mumbled to herself, and resumed plucking her eyebrows. “Fitz, come back. We can do facials together; your t-zone is getting a bit oily,” she yelled through the wall again. 

“Oh my God, Simmons, leave me alone!” he shouted back through the shared wall. 

Jemma chuckled to herself, “Well don’t blame me when your face breaks out in two days.”


End file.
